Decision details

Having considered an officer report, and presentations by the Cabinet

Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Amanda De Ryk, the Chair of

the Public Accounts Select Committee, Councillor Pat Codd and by Councillor

Jacq Paschoud, the Mayor and Cabinet agreed in a recorded vote that:

 

(1) the comments of the Public Accounts Select Committee of 2 February

2021 be received and a minuted response be provided to the Select

Committee and notes that Mayor and Cabinet decisions on the budget report

will then be taken formally with the budget update report on the 10 February,

 

(2) having considered the views of those consulted on the budget, and subject

to consideration of the outcome of consultation with business ratepayers and

subject to proper process, as required, the Mayor and Cabinet approved the

following budgetary decisions:

 

General Fund Revenue Budget

 

2.3 notes and asks Council to note the projected overall variance of £3.2m (or

1.3%) against the agreed 2020/21 revenue budget of £248.714m as set out in

section 6 of this report and that any year-end overspend will be met from

corporate reserves and provisions;

 

2.4 endorses and asks Council to endorse the budget cut proposals of

£28.016m as per the Mayor and Cabinet meetings of the 9 December 2020

and 3 February 2020, as set out in section 6 of the report and summarised in

Appendix Y1 and Y2;

 

2.5 agrees and asks Council to agree the allocation of £6.500m in 2021/22 be

set aside and use of £1.500m reduced contribution for concessionary fares for

corporate risks and pressures; 

 

2.6 agrees and asks Council to agree the allocation of £19.685m of corporate

risks and pressures, social care precept, new homes bonus, social care grant,

lower tier grant and legacy s31 monies in 2021/22 to be invested in funding

quantified budget pressures and opportunities, both recurring and once-off as

set out in section 6;

 

2.7 agrees to recommend to Council that a General Fund Budget

Requirement of £243.100m for 2021/22 be approved;

 

2.8 asks Council to agree to a 4.99% increase in Lewisham’s Council Tax

element. This will result in a Band D equivalent Council Tax level of £1,379.96

for Lewisham’s services and £1,743.62 overall. This represents an overall

increase in Council Tax for 2021/22 of 5.91% and is subject to the GLA

precept for 2021/22 being increased by £31.59 (i.e. 9.5%) from £332.07 to

£363.66, in line with the GLA’s draft budget proposals;

 

2.9 notes and asks Council to note the Council Tax Ready Reckoner which for

illustrative purposes sets out the Band D equivalent Council Tax at various

levels of increase. This is explained in section 6 of the report and is set out in

more detail in Appendix Y4;

 

2.10 asks that the Executive Director for Corporate Resources issues cash

limits to all Directorates once the 2021/22 Revenue Budget is agreed;

 

2.11 notes that the Executive Director for Corporate Resources Section 25

Statement will be presented in the Budget Update Report on the 10 February

2021 for approval;

 

2.12 agrees and asks Council to agree the draft statutory calculations for

2021/22 as set out at Appendix Y6; 

 

2.13 notes and asks Council to note the prospects for the revenue budget for

2021/22 and future years as set out in section 6;

 

2.14 agrees and asks officers to continue to develop firm proposals to

redesign and transform services and bring them forward in good time to

support the work towards a cuts round to help plan early and meet the future

forecast budget shortfalls;

 

2.15 notes and endorses the Council’s withdrawal from the discontinued

London Business Rates Pool for 2021/22.

 

Other Grants (within the General Fund)

 

2.16 notes and asks Council to note the adjustments to and impact of various

specific grants for 2021/22 on the General Fund as set out in section 7 of the

report;

 

Fees and charges 

 

2.17 approves and endorses the approach to setting 2021/22 fees and

charges for chargeable services in section 8 of the report and attached at

Appendix Y8;

 

Dedicated Schools Grant and Pupil Premium

Schools Block

2.18 note and recommends that Council notes that the provisional Dedicated

Schools Grant allocation of £222.769m be the Schools’ Budget (Schools

Block) for 2021/22;

 

2.19 notes that following the Schools Forum meeting on the 19 January,

submission has been made to the Department for Education with regards to

school funding formula, recommending the application of the National Funding

Formula (including unit values) allowing for a 2% uplift in Minimum Funding

Guarantee (MFG); 

 

2.20 notes that after the funding allocation to schools there is a one-off

remaining amount of Dedicated Schools Grant of £2.3m for 2021/22;

 

2.21 agrees and recommends that Council agrees, (as recommended by

Schools Forum) the once-off transfer £1.068m of Dedicated Schools Grant to

the High Needs Block and the set aside of £1.24m to support schools through

measures such as the growth fund and the falling rolls fund;

 

Central Schools Services Block (CSSB)

2.22 notes, and asks Council to note, the construct and allocation of £4.261m

for the CSSB block allocation for 2021/22;

 

2.23 notes an increase of £2.65 per pupil unit resulting in a net increase of

£68.7k in the “pupil-led” funding element of the block;

 

High Needs Block (HNB)

2.24 notes, and asks Council to note, the provisional High Needs Block

£62.4m to support the Council’s statutory duty with regards Special Education

Needs. This is a net increase of £5.99m relative to 2020/21;

 

2.25 notes that the HNB is expected to overspend by between £4-5m in

2020/21;

 

2.26 notes that the Schools Forum has agreed to transfer £1.068m to the

block to support the Council to meet its statutory functions;

 

Early Years Block (EYB)

2.27 notes, and asks Council to note, the provisional Dedicated Schools Grant

allocation of £24.17m to the block; 

 

2.28 notes that the Department for Education increase in funding for “3 and 4

year old” from £5.70, to £5.76 (i.e. 6p per hour), and hourly rate for 2 year

olds increase from £6.58 to £6.66 (i.e. 8p per hour) for 2021/22.

 

2.29 notes that the maintained nursery supplementary funding allocation for

September 2021 to March 2022 is subject to change and has not yet been

finalised;

 

Pupil Premium

 

2.30 notes, and asks Council to note, that the pupil premium will continue in

the 2021/22 financial year. The funding rates in the year will be same as

2020/21 but the census date has changed to January.

 

Housing Revenue Account

2.31 notes the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and

leaseholders in the Brockley area, presented to area panel members on 16

December 2020, as attached at Appendix X2; 

 

2.32 notes the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and

leaseholders and the Lewisham Homes budget strategy presented to area

panel members on 17 December 2020 as attached at Appendix X3;

 

2.33 sets an increase in dwelling rents of 1.5% (an average of £1.46 per

week) – as per the formula rent calculations outlined in section 9 of this report;

 

2.34 sets an increase in the hostels accommodation charge by 1.5% (or £0.53

per week), in accordance with formula rent calculations;

 

2.35 approves the following average weekly increases/decreases for

dwellings for:

 

2.35.1 service charges to non-Lewisham Homes managed dwellings

(Brockley) to ensure full cost recovery and 2.1% inflationary uplift for 2021/22;

 caretaking 2.10% (£0.66)

 grounds 2.10% (£0.80)

 communal lighting 2.10% (£0.06)

 bulk waste collection 2.10% (£0.03)

 window cleaning 2.10% (£0.00)

 tenants’ levy 0% (£0.00)

 

2.35.2 service charges to Lewisham Homes managed dwellings:

 caretaking 1.99% (£0.13)

 grounds 1.94% (£0.04)

 window cleaning 26.00% (£0.02)

 communal lighting 2.55% (£0.03)

 block pest control 2.20% (£0.04)

 waste collection 23.20% (£0.11)

 heating & hot water 1.62% (£0.17)

 tenants’ levy 0% (£0.00)

 bulk waste disposal 0.00% (£0.00)

 sheltered housing 0.00% (£0.00)

 

2.36 approves the following average weekly percentage changes for hostels

and shared temporary units for;

 service charges (hostels) – caretaking etc.; no change

 energy cost increases for heat, light & power; no change

 water charges increase; no change 

 

2.37 approves an increase in garage rents by 1.1% (£0.17 per week) for

Brockley and Lewisham Homes residents;

 

2.38 notes that the budgeted expenditure for the Housing Revenue Account

(HRA) for 2021/22 is £226.1m, split £112.1m revenue and £114.0m capital,

which includes the decent homes and new build programmes;

 

2.39 agrees the HRA budget strategy cut proposals in order to achieve a

balanced budget in 2021/21, as attached at Appendix X1; 

 

2.40 agrees to write off forty-one cases of Former Tenants’ Arrears as set out

in section 9 and Appendix X7, totalling £655,329.76;

 

Treasury Management Strategy

2.41 approves and recommends that Council approves the prudential

indicators and treasury indicators, as set out in section 10 of this report; 

 

2.42 approves and recommends that Council approves the Annual Investment

Strategy and Creditworthiness Policy, set out in further detail at Appendix Z2;

 

2.43 approves and recommends that Council approves the update to the

Investment Strategy as set out in section 10 of this report, namely to allow

investment in UK building societies with a minimum credit rating of BBB- from

Fitch (or equivalent) for up to 3 months, and no more than £10m per

institution;

 

2.44 notes and asks Council to note that the Capital Strategy 2021/22 will be

brought forward during the year;

 

2.45 approves and recommends that Council approves the Minimum Revenue

Provision (MRP) policy as set out in section 10 of this report;

 

2.46 agrees and recommends that Council agrees to delegate to the

Executive Director of Corporate Resources authority during 2021/22 to make

amendments to borrowing and investment limits provided they are consistent

with the strategy and there is no change to the Council’s authorised limit for

borrowing;

 

2.47 approves and recommends that Council approves the overall credit and

counterparty risk management criteria, as set out at Appendix Z2, the

proposed countries for investment at Appendix Z3, and that it formally

delegates responsibility for managing transactions with those institutions

which meet the criteria to the Executive Director for Corporate Resources;

 

2.48 approves and recommends that Council approves a minimum sovereign

rating of AA-for non-UK investments;

 

Capital Programme

2.49 notes the 2020/21 Quarter 3 Capital Programme monitoring position and

the Capital Programme potential future schemes and resources as set out in

section 11 of this report;

 

2.50 notes the significant proposed rise in prudential borrowing of more than

£275m by 2023/24, primarily to fund the Building for Lewisham programme

capital plans;

 

2.51 recommends that Council approves the 2021/22 to 2023/24 Capital

Programme of £517.5m, as set out in section 11 of this report and attached at

Appendices W1 and W2.